Time to Remember (1962)

Let's be realistic.

i must have seen a different film!!

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

NOTES: Number 18 of the 50-picture Merton Park "Edgar Wallace" series... First film directed by television director Charles Jarrott who returned to movies with Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Mary Queen of Scots (1971), Lost Horizon (1973), The Dove (1974), The Other Side of Midnight (1977), The Littlest Horse Thieves (1977), Last Flight of Noah's Ark (1980), Condorman (1981), The Amateur (1981), then returned to TV for fifteen years, and then back in movies with The Secret Life of Algernon (1997), Turn of Faith (2001), Snow Prince (2004). COMMENT: Another disappointing Edgar Wallace entry! But I just had to include this one as a public service to warn people off! Although it begins promisingly and boasts a reasonably intelligent cast, this Edgar Wallace entry is one of the least interesting in the entire series. The reason is not so much the totally undistinguished direction (aside from the fall off the roof at the beginning, which is quite effectively accomplished), but the fact that the script is heavily over-weighted with dialogue. And such dialogue! Crudely disguised instant information jostles with seemingly endless verbal sparring that moves in circles and gets nowhere. As for clichés, count them! There is one scene in fact, a tete-a-tete between French Victor and his girl friend (filmed all in one dull take), that must surely hold the world's record for the number of clichés in a single camera set-up, clichés that are topped off by French Victor remarking that "every gendarme in Paris is looking for me!" Mr. Jarrott's answer to this entry of inescapable ennui is a brief sequence of inter-cutting two different tracking shots of running feet on cobble-stoned pavements. This interlude provides a slight bump of excitement against the surrounding arid plains of relentless mediocrity. Mediocre that is, except for the plot's long-awaited climax, which turns out to be so tame, it must rank as the worst feature of all.Other production credits are fair average quality, with the exception of a pedestrian music score of ear-numbing cacophony.

"Time To Remember" must have been the English equivalent of our "B" programmers, with some obscure (to myself) actors and a very good story. The story is from Edgar Wallace, which accounts for the absorbing plot but the acting is unusually good for this type of movie. It has a Monogram or Republic look to it, almost a TV look to it actually, but production values are overshadowed by all-around professionalism.It was made in 1962 and can be distinguished from a noir movie by excess lighting and by an annoying 60's go-go music track, but succeeds due to an interesting story and to the breakneck speed of plot development - the picture is only 55 minutes long on my copy and it goes by in a flash.The reviewer above has already delineated the story and the male lead is Harry H. Corbett, who is not listed in the credits on the website. He plays an opportunistic real estate agent who stumbles on a bungled jewel robbery at an abandoned London house. I am not familiar with his other credits but he was excellent. The other players were more than competent with no noticeable weak spots. It is not available in any format so you'll have to get a copy from a DVD pirate, and it is worth your trouble.

The series of Edgar Wallace mysteries that this film belonged to were quite entertaining and were shown in the cinema before the main feature. It is interesting to see actors you remember, some of whom never progressed, some who were destined to play supporting roles for the rest of their career and some who went on to become major stars. In this film a gang of jewellery thieves rob a house which has just become empty on the death of it's rich lady owner a week earlier. Her jewels are still in the safe(!?). The robbery is not a complete success and one robber hides the jewels in the house as he's about to be captured. The house is put up for sale. Harry H. Corbett plays a struggling estate agent. A lady enquires about buying the house. This eventually leads to Corbett putting two and two together and guessing the jewels may still be there. The events unfold with a few twists and turns, making this a very watchable film.